Babyghost and VeChain: Blockchain at Fashion Week

Independent fashion label Babyghost partnered with Shanghai-based Blockchain-as-a-Service company BitSE and its VeChain project to debut a blockchain-enabled collection at Shanghai Fashion Week [1]. For the brand’s 2017 Spring and Summer line, the collaboration embedded chips into garments to create a link between physical fashion and the digital world [1].

Key takeaways

• Babyghost embedded VeChain chips in its 2017 Spring/Summer collection to verify authenticity and provide product history [1].
• Users can scan the clothing via NFC or QR code to access exclusive content, such as videos of models or styling tips [1, 2].
• The presentation featured 20 models and 80 handbags, each containing unique digital stories and photos [1].

Verifying Authenticity and Telling Stories

VeChain functions as a cloud product management solution that assigns unique IDs to items on the blockchain to verify genuineness [1]. By scanning a Near Field Communications (NFC) chip or QR code on a label, a smartphone communicates with an embedded chip to reveal the item’s "story" [1]. The chip holds a unique public and private key pair; the public key is stored on the blockchain and verified by the VeChain app against the company’s servers to ensure the product is genuine [1].

At the Shanghai event, 20 models showcased 20 looks, allowing attendees to scan chips to view interactive memories of who originally modeled the pieces in New York City [1]. Additionally, 80 eco-friendly handbags were presented, each tagged with a landmark Babyghost photo and possessing a unique ID representing a specific moment in the brand's history [1]. BitSE COO Sunny Lu noted that future customers could document their own history with a garment before selling it secondhand, adding to the item's digital narrative [1].

Enhancing Customer Engagement

While blockchain is often associated with anti-counterfeiting, Babyghost co-founder Joshua Hupper viewed the technology as a way to deepen customer relations beyond social media platforms like Instagram [2]. Content stored on the blockchain can be updated, meaning a customer might scan a coat later to see a new way to wear it [2]. Lu, a former chief information officer of Louis Vuitton China, described the shift as moving from mass production to mass customization, providing an exclusive experience without requiring the consumer to understand the underlying technology [1, 2].

Why it matters

This collaboration illustrates blockchain’s potential to disrupt industries beyond finance by enhancing consumer interaction [1]. Lu argued that while some fashion players use NFC for anti-counterfeiting, integrating blockchain offers a more secure solution that involves consumers directly in business operations [1]. The initiative aligns with broader trends in China, where blockchain has been highlighted in the government’s 13th five-year plan as an area for development [2].